Analysis

I completed this project alongside 3 other members of my Masters program cohort: Cheryl Despathy, Ben Hall, and Chris Nylund. Collectively, we referred to ourselves as The Mega Powers. Together, the design team identified the Upper Learning (UL) branch of The Galloway Schoolas a potential beneficiary of Google Apps for Education training. After conducting a thorough analysis of needs, the design team located a primary problem: Technology integration training at Galloway School does not adequately prepare users (Upper Learning faculty) to integrate and effectively use quantitative information through Google Spreadsheets. Reflecting on the context and learners, the designers developed a course with the following goal: learners will be able to generate and manipulate quantitative data using Google Spreadsheets. The choice of screencasting video for the production and delivery of instruction was made with the learner’s convenience and pace in mind. If approaching this project again, I would suggest that we build out a more fully-fleshed training course with embedded assessment to gauge the faculty’s learning.

I approached this project as a part of my EDIT 7460 Internship in ID course. As a part of my duties with the UGA Office of Online Learning, I interviewed several of my colleagues and college administrators about UGA's E-suffix designation for online courses. Faculty and administrators at UGA were having a hard time grasping the concept of what receiving an e-suffix entails, so my idea was to create a short educational piece about what the process was all about. I researched various whiteboard animation software programs (a different form of analysis!) and finally settled on Sparkol's VideoScribe software to create this piece. I am happy with how this video turned out, as our office began using it in presentations with deans and department heads at UGA. If I had to do it over, I would have requested that our unit actually purchase a subscription to VideoScribe. I was a bit limited in the options I could use, I encountered some music glitches (which you will hear in the piece), and some of the elements did not render out properly.